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Ex-Memphis police chief facing 25 felonies

The charges allege the officers falsified Secretary of State documents for inspections intended to detect stolen vehicles and parts, according to a statement from the Michigan Attorney General's Office.

Ex-Memphis police chief facing 25 felonies

A former Memphis police chief is among seven current and former police officers facing more than 100 charges following an investigation by the FBI Detroit-Area Public Corruption Task Force into improper salvage vehicle inspections.

The charges allege the officers falsified Secretary of State documents for inspections intended to detect stolen vehicles and parts, according to a statement from the Michigan Attorney General's Office. The defendants are expected to be arraigned today.

Elena Danishevskaya, 49, of Davisburg, worked as Memphis' chief of police from April 2005 to April 2011. Her charges are related to her time as the Bangor police chief.

Danishevskaya is expected to be charged with 25 counts of uttering and publishing, 14-year felonies. She worked as the Bangor chief from December 2014 to July 2015, according to a resume she sent to Comstock Township for a job application in 2016.

“These public officials cut corners and fraudulently submitted paperwork taking advantage of the trust and responsibility they are given as police officers,” Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a statement. “It is important to hold these individuals accountable as there are many others who complete this job by the rules every single day. I want to thank the FBI’s Detroit Area Public Corruption Task Force and the Secretary of States Office for their hard work on this investigation.”

The charges allege the current and former officers did not check the Law Enforcement Information Network during salvage vehicle inspections to ensure they weren't re-titling vehicles rebuilt with stolen parts or re-titling stolen vehicles. The investigation also alleges the defendants did not check the National Insurance Crime Bureau, which tracks stolen vehicles.

“The unlawful conduct committed by these few officers should not tarnish the badges or reputations of the vast majority of Michigan’s law enforcement professionals. The FBI and our law enforcement partners remain committed to rooting out public corruption at all levels,” Jeffery E. Peterson, of the Detroit FBI office, said in the statement.

A message left on a phone number listed for Danishevskaya was not immediately returned Thursday morning.